Valda: Ragnarok Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• What's New
• Game Set-up
  • With Only the Valda Base Game
  • With the Rise of the Giants Expansion
• Gameplay
• Divine Slaying
• Team Mode
• Solo Mode
  • Solo Mode Set-up
  • Solo Mode Gameplay
  • AP Building Phase
  • AP Attack Phase
  • AP Follower Phase
  • AP Divine Powers
• Cards Description

Contents

• 1 rulebook
• 70 cards (20 cards for solo mode)
• 7 God/Giant tokens
• 28 treasure tokens (treasures)
• 14 temple tokens
• 1 AP (Automated Player) player board

What's New

Ploy cards (orange): The ploy cards are a new type of cards that require two steps to play. First, you place it face-up and horizontally in front of you in the Valda phase (or Action phase). This does not cost an action. In the beginning of the next phase, you may turn the card vertically and you can use the card from that moment on.

Depending on the letter on the card (A or B) you can play it in a certain phase. If there is an 'A' on it, you can play this card in the Valda Phase (or Action phase), for example to gain resources or to build more buildings. If there is an 'B' on it, you can play this card in the Attack Phase, for example to enhance an attack or to use as a defence card.

Once played, the ploy card is discarded.

All the cards from this expansion have the expansion symbol in the bottom left corner to be able to sort them easily after use.

God/Giant tokens: The God/Giant tokens represent the active Gods and Giants. You use the tokens on the Yggdrasil tree to track their followers. See section 'Divine slaying' for more information.

Treasures: Treasures can be found on the mythical world map. You gain the treasure token from the site where you build a temple.

Game Set-up

All original rules for game set-up apply here.

Leave the following cards in the base box:

• Yggdrasil (2x from deck A and 1x from Heimdall deck)
• Bifrost bridge (2x from deck A)
• Thor, God of Thunder (2x from Thor deck)
• Freya, Goddess of Fertility (2x from Freya deck)
• Cards for solo mode. You recognize them by the '1P' at the bottom.

Do not use solo cards in a game with more than one player.

In each God or Giant area, add 4 treasures tokens face-down on its building sites (one will remain empty). After adding all treasure tokens in all areas, flip 3 of the 4 tokens face-up in each area. For each area: 3 treasures are shown, 1 is hidden and 1 temple building site is empty.

Valda: Ragnarok can be played in combination with Valda: Rise of the Giants but it can also be played solely with the base game. Place all participating God and Giant tokens (on stacks) on space '5' (for 2 players), space '7' (for 3 players), space '9' (for 4 players) and space '12' (for 5 players) of the Yggdrasil score track.

Variant rule: if you want to alter the starting space for the Gods and Giants, you can do so with the permission of all players and before you start the game.

Take all ploy cards without the picture of a God or Giant in the lower right corner and put the cards with an 'A' in the lower middle in the A deck ('Action' deck) and the cards with a 'B' in the lower middle in the B deck ('Battle' deck).

Take all the other cards (without a picture of a God) from the base game and the Ragnarok expansion and add them to the 2 decks A and B as usual.

Deck A consists of action and 'A' ploy cards, deck B consists of defence cards, attack cards and 'B' ploy cards. Shuffle thoroughly. By default you draw from 1 single main deck (A or B, not both). During the game, all played and discarded 'A' ploy cards will be placed in the discard pile next to the A deck and all played and discarded 'B' ploy cards will be placed in the discard pile next to the B deck.

Take all ploy cards with the picture of a God or Giant in the lower right corner out of the Ragnarok game box and add them to the corresponding divine decks.

With Only the Valda Base Game

Every player receives 2 divine blood, 2 diamonds and 2 gold.

With the Rise of the Giants Expansion

Decide by following the rules in Rise of the Giants which Gods and/or Giants are part of you gaming session. Leave the following cards in the Rise of the Giants expansion box: Thor, God of thunder (2x from Ymir deck).

Every player receives 2 divine blood, 3 diamonds and 3 gold.

Gameplay

All original rules for gameplay apply. If you want to play the solo mode, go to section 'Solo mode'.

The player who already played Valda is the starting player. If all players have played Valda, roll the white dice. The player who rolls the most followers is the starting player. At the start of the game, all players draw 3 cards from deck A and 3 cards from deck B. As in the Valda base game, the game ends after round 6. The player with the most followers is declared the winner and becomes a Norse God or Giant. In case of a tie, the player with the most temples wins. In case of a second tie, the player with the most resources wins.

Divine Slaying

In this Ragnarok expansion you can also attack and kill Gods and Giants with your attack cards. During an opponent's attack phase you can choose to attack that player (as you are familiar with) or you can choose to attack a God or Giant. To do so, that opponent needs to have at least 1 temple in the area of the God or Giant you wish to attack. When you attack a God or Giant, you can play any attack card (similar to attacking a player). Only the attack value is important when attacking a God or Giant. The effect is irrelevant and can be ignored.

The active player can defend this attack as it was a personal attack. Subtract the defence value to the attack value. The final result shows how many followers this God or Giant loses.

When a God or Giant loses followers, move their token one space down the Yggdrasil tree for each loss. Safe heavens don't apply for Gods and Giants.

When a Giant or God reaches 0, they die and their area is destroyed. When a Giant or God area is destroyed, flip the associated temple tile and place it in the corresponding section of the player boards so that the skull is visible.

Remove all temples and treasures (if there are any left) from that area. From now until the end of the game no more temples can be build in this area.

Runes can't be obtained by succesfully attacking or defending a God or Giant. You do gain a follower by killing a God or Giant.

Team Mode

You can play the team mode with 4 players. Choose the team (2 versus 2) in which you will be playing. All players roll the white dice. The player who rolls the most followers is the starting player.

All the above rules apply, except for:

• You gain and lose followers as a team.
• Only use one Viking that represents the team on the Yggdrasil tree.
• You can only attack opponents, never your ally.
• Attack cards that target all other players don't target allies.
• You as a team member can play defence cards when your ally gets attacked, instead of or in addition to your ally.
• An ally doesn't receive runes after succesfully helping to defend.

Solo Mode

Loki and Thrym are lurking to cease the opportunity to climb the Yggdrasil tree. This, with only one purpose: to claim the throne in Asgard and become the rulers of the 9 worlds. A brave Viking has stumbled onto their plan: you. It is up to you to prevent this and save the 9 worlds.

In this solo mode you can play Valda against an AP (Automated Player): Loki or Thrym.

Take the AP player board out of the Ragnarok game box. You must play with the base game and Ragnarok expansion, Rise of the Giants is optional.

All normal rules described before apply here with a few exceptions. For example: divine slaying is not part of this solo mode.

Solo Mode Set-up

Choose your opponent: Loki or Thrym and place the AP player board with the chosen side faced-up on the table. You can only face Thrym if you are also playing with the Rise of the Giants expansion.

Give the AP the yellow components and place his God/Giant token at the bottom of the Yggdrasil tree (instead of his Viking). Place his temples and cubes in a reserve next to his board.

Create the AP attack deck by shuffling the AP attack cards. If you are playing against Loki, use only the AP attack cards with Loki's picture in the lower right corner. If you're playing against Thrym, use all AP attack cards.

Create the AP defence deck by shuffling all AP defence cards (no matter the opponent). Place them next to the AP player board.

Both type of cards have their own discard pile. If a deck is ever empty, shuffle the discard pile to form a new deck.

Put the temple token of each God and Giant in a bag or shuffle them face-down on the table.

Solo Mode Gameplay

The game last 6 rounds as usual. You start playing first.

You play your turn as usual except for the attack phase. During your attack phase, the AP draws one card from his attack deck. Don't forget to apply divine powers. Defend this attack as usual. If the attack is successful, you suffer its effect. When the AP steals resources from you, they go back to the general stockpile.

When the AP moves one of your temples, he selects the most expensive one (highest resource count) and moves it to the area where temples are the cheapest (lowest resource count). When the AP freezes one of your temples, he selects the most expensive one. In case of ties, you choose the temple/area.

During his turn the AP will only play 3 phases: Building, Attack and Followers phase.

The AP's temples are tracked with cubes on his board. He can use the divine powers given by the temples he built. Some temples don't give the AP any advantage or power. The AP prioretizes certain temple locations. Hence the letters and numbers in the right corner. See 'Ymir' on how temple moving works.

The AP can't receive cards and doesn't use or collect resources. Except Thrym who can use runes. He can gain or steal runes as normal, and you can normally steal runes from him.

Weaken effect: see 'Attack phase' of the AP for more information.

AP Building Phase

Draw a random temple token. The AP builds that temple in the corresponding area. Place a temple on the world map and a cube on his board.

If that was the first time the AP built a temple in that area, place the temple token back in the pool (face-down or in the bag). If it was the AP's second temple in the area, remove the temple token from the game.

In case of temple movement, the temple tokens are to be adjusted immediately depending on the number of available divine power in each area. If the AP gains or loses the ability to use the second divine power, respectively remove or add the corresponding temple token from/to the pool. NB: freezing temples does not affect the temple tokens.

An AP can never have more than 2 temples in 1 area (even if one is frozen). When he builds a temple he gains 1 follower (but no card).

AP Attack Phase

The AP first weakens you if he has the right divine powers available. Weaken effects are cumulative. Apply the weaken effects shown on the AP board.

Then you have the possibility to attack the AP like a human player: you attack as usual and the AP defends himself by drawing 1 card from the AP defence deck. Compare the attack and defence values and apply the effect of the attack if successful.

When you steal resources from the AP, take them from the general stockpile. When you steal runes from Thrym, take them from his player board. For each successful attack or defence he makes, Thrym gains 1 rune.

AP Follower Phase

As the AP, Loki and Thrym have different abilities during the Follower phase, apart from their divine powers.

Loki:

• Round 1 to 3: he rolls 1 white die and applies the result.
• Round 4 to 6: he rolls 2 white dice and applies the results.

Thrym:

• Round 1 to 3: he trades 1 rune for 2 followers.
• Round 4 to 6: he trades 2 runes for 5 followers.

Then, the AP gains followers or runes according to his divine powers (see Odin, Grim and Thor). He may also roll white dice depending on other divine powers (see Kari and Loki).

AP Divine Powers

The AP never adds both powers of an area when he has 2 temples.

Thrym AP:

• Freya: no divine powers (they are natural enemies).
• Ymir: 1 temple - no power / 2 temples - the AP moves 1 of his temples. Firstly, the AP selects a temple in the area with the lowest number possible (indicated on the playerboard). Areas that have no number are ignored. Then he moves that temple to the area with the first letter in alphabetical order, which does not already have 2 temples.
• Surtur/Tyr/Agir: increase the AP attack/defence values.
• Hel/Heimdall/Mork: The weaken effects causes you to lose followers/resources (except runes)/cards. You choose the resources, the cards are discarded randomly.
• Thor/Grim/Odin: the AP gains followers/runes in his Follower phase (see player board for how many).
• Loki/Kari: the AP rolls white dice in his Follower phase.
• Thrym: the AP gains 1 rune if you don't attack him in his Attack phase.

Loki AP:

• Freya: the AP draws 1 additional temple token during his Building phase.
• Ymir: 1 temple - no power / 2 temples - the AP moves 1 of his temples. Firstly, the AP selects a temple in the area with the lowest number possible (indicated on the playerboard). Area's that have no number are ignored. Then he moves that temple to the area with the first letter in alphabetical order, which does not already have 2 temples.
• Surtur/Tyr/Agir: increase the AP attack/defence values.
• Hel/Heimdall: The weaken effect causes you to lose followers/resources (except runes). You choose which resources.
• Mork: The weaken effect makes the AP move 1 of your temples.
• Thor/Grim/Thrym: the AP gains followers in his Follower phase.
• Odin: no divine powers (they are natural enemies).
• Loki: 1 temple - no power / 2 temples - the AP rolls 1 extra white die during his Follower phase.
• Kari: 1 temple - the AP re-rolls 1 die if he rolls a skull during his Follower phase / 2 temples - the AP re-rolls 1 die if he rolls a skull or a blank during his Follower phase. The second result applies.

Cards Description

You recognize these cards from those in the base game (or from Valda: Rise of the Giants) by their artwork and functionality. They work in a similar way as in the base game except for the 2-steps mechanism of the ploy cards.

• Weapons of War: Increase the total attack value of your attack by +1/+2.
• Viking Army: You can carry out an extra attack.
• Yggdrasil: With the base game you can build 1 extra building. With the Rise of the Giants expansion, Yggdrasil gives you 1 extra building point.
• Cold Climate: Increase the total attack value of your attack by +3.
• Agir: If you have successfully defended an attack, steal 1 follower.
• Freya: Discard up to 4 cards from your hand to draw the same amount from a main deck.
• Thief: When the effect of your attack is to steal resources, your total attack value gains +4.
• Undead Army: When the effect of your attack is to cause a loss of follower(s), your total attack value gains +3.
• Kari: Rotate any die to any result.
• Power Drain: When the effect of your attack is to steal, your total attack value gains +3.
• Puddle of Mud: Take any ploy card from the discard pile into your hand.
• Leader of the Gods: When attacking a Giant, your total attack value gains +3.